PETALING JAYA: Teaching children to recognise unsafe situations, understand personal boundaries and speak up when something feels wrong is crucial to protecting them from sexual abuse, in view of rising cases involving minors.
Police recorded 2,113 victims of physical sexual abuse nationwide last year, with 93% aged below 18, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
The number of child victims rose 15% from 1,710 in 2024.
Of the cases involving minors, 60.5% (1,195 victims) were aged between 13 and 17, followed by 31.7% aged seven to 12 and 7.8% aged six and below.
Child Rights Coalition Malaysia co-chairperson Thulasi Munisamy said parents and caregivers should begin teaching children about body safety, personal boundaries and how to seek help from an early age.
She said children should learn the correct names for private body parts, recognise unsafe touch and identify three to five trusted adults they could approach for help.
“We no longer use good and bad touch because working with child victims, we know that bad touch can sometimes feel good,” she said.
She stressed the importance of age-appropriate body safety education.
Thulasi said parents should also foster open communication, monitor their children’s online activities and discuss risks such as grooming and image-sharing.
Children should be reassured that they would be supported if they spoke up about uncomfortable or unsafe experiences, she added.
She said children could also seek help through channels such as Talian Kasih 15999.
Their concerns come amid a spate of sexual abuse cases involving children in recent months.
The most recent one involved a 46-year-old primary school teacher, who claimed trial to six charges of sexual offences against three 11-year-old children in Kuala Lumpur.
Voice of the Children chairperson Sharmila Sekaran said parents should teach children about body autonomy and consent from an early age, including their right to refuse unwanted contact regardless of who approaches them.
“Often, sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone the child knows and trusts, not a stranger,” she said, highlighting the need for appropriate supervision both offline and online.
She said when a child discloses abuse, parents should remain calm, listen without judgement, reassure the child that it is not their fault and avoid repeatedly questioning them.
They should also prevent further contact with the alleged perpetrator and report the matter to the authorities, she added.
Sharmila said families, schools and communities shared responsibility for ensuring children were protected, listened to and believed.
Childline Foundation executive director Datin Wong Poai Hong said the need to protect children extended to the digital world, where online harms affecting minors were also on the rise.
She said the Internet Watch Foundation reviewed 18,084 images and videos of child sexual abuse material involving Malaysian children last year, an 11% increase from 16,238 in 2024.
She urged parents to educate themselves about online risks so they could discuss them with their children and help them recognise potential dangers.
She also called on the public to report online child sexual abuse material through the foundation’s page at https://www.childlinefoundation.com/report-abuse.
